Question on Semroc Orbital Transport

[Giggles]

I've been away from rocketry for a while, but with winter weather setting in, I find I have more time for building rockets. So I'm back to TRF with a question.

If anyone has built the orbital transport before, I am wondering what amount of dihedral the glider needs. The instructions say to drape the wings over the body tube and support them while drying, but it does not specify how much of an angle the glider needs to fly properly. I glued mine with Elmer's and let it set for 10 minutes before draping it over the body tube, but by then it had set pretty firmly. I was able to bend it slightly and I supported the wings with small dice, but I ended up with virtually no dihedral in the wings. They are almost flat. If I need to, I can warm the glue with a hair dryer and try to bend the wings a bit more. What do you suggest?

Thanks,
Giggles

[aerostadt]

If you want to build the kit as the original model, then you need the dihedral. I would say bend the wings. The original Estes instructions have both wings dry with glue attached on one side of the Body tube as the wing tips are draped down and rest on a flat surface. As I recall the plans can be downloaded from Jim EZ's website. If it is too late to do so and you want to keep the original design, you could always order the extra parts and do that portion of the Orbiter over.

[Giggles]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try to save the glider and adjust the wings as necessary.

[aerostadt]

Another thought has occurred to me. Once completed and assembled for flight the orbiter (parasite glider) rests loosely a certain offset distance from the booster by two small fins on the booster. If you don't have the wing dihedral, but rather flat wings, the offset distance for the glider aft end is going to be further out. This means that the alignment for the wood dowel on the orbiter front pylon might be off. Perhaps, this pylon could be adjusted to accommodate flat wings, but the rear of glider will be then be at a higher offset than the original design. All of this is more reason to maintain the dihedral.